Call Of Duty And Final Fantasy Merged?
Can you imagine? It always seems as if the hardcore role-playing fans and the shooter fans are on opposite ends of the spectrum, so what if we took the most iconic franchise from each genre and blended 'em together? That'd make everyone happy, right?
I know what many will say, that something like Fallout is a blend of FF and CoD but that's not really what I mean; I'm talking about a merging of the two existing franchises so both sets of fans have recognizable elements and characters. So let's see, what should we have?
Chocobo Medics: Remember how annoying it was when the damn yellow Chocobos kept healing each other in Final Fantasy Tactics? Well, in the midst of a battle, a Chocobo has to try and revive you. Sure, it can fly. It can even attack with its beak if it gets pissed.
Moogle Grenades: Every grenade, no matter what type, is shaped like a certain sort of Moogle. If you get enough of them and throw them all at once, ten Moogles pop out of the "exploding" device, surround the unfortunate victim, and dance around him until he dies.
It was the sniper on the grassy knoll! I want good ol' turn-based combat with a few twists; like character movement and position still matters (ala Suikoden V crossed with Resonance of Fate). But remember how in Final Fantasy X, you could switch characters in and out of battle? Well, what if snipers could sort of hover around battles and try to get off some damaging shots from afar? They could also radio for backup to other characters you may have in your party; the sniper would be a support character, really.
Auto-battle or FPS control: If you want to go the traditional RPG route, you can let the character execute the command automatically, as in days of old. If you want to switch to a first-person mode, though, you can actually aim for certain spots on an enemy, as one would do in a FPS. It might be slower than the auto, but you should be able to get in some critical hits, while it's certainly not guaranteed with the auto-battle.
Towns AND maps: Yeah, towns for the shops and NPCs and quests and actual full-on battlefield maps that come with any given FPS. You know how one would enter a forest from the world map in the old days? This would be similar; only you'd be entering an actual FPS-like map, where you could fight both AI enemies and human players. This could lead to all sorts of co-op/multiplayer possibilities but they wouldn't be necessary.
Cid's an arms supplier: If you want any munitions are ammo for characters that wield firearms, you know where to go.
Mages must top casual gunmen: Well, magic was always more powerful than swords, so...besides, guns tend to suck in RPGs. But, if you want to train someone in guns right from the start, that'd be a whole different matter.
Cloud is an unlockable character; he has Ultima Weapon in one hand and a minigun in the other: It just has to happen.
11/5/2010 Ben Dutka